Counter operator for pressurized paint can



Jan. 28, 1964 w. w. CHAPMAN COUNTER OPERATOR FOR PRESSURIZED PAINT CAN Filed Oct. 5, 19 1 INVENTOR.

WA Y/VE W. CHAPMAN w Attorney United States Patent 3,119,557 COUNTER OPERATOR FOR PRESSUREZED PAINT CAN Wayne W. Chapman, Fairview Park, Ohio, assignor to United States Steel Corporation, a corporation of New Jersey Filed Oct. 5, 1961, er. No. 143,159 1 Claim. (Cl. 235-91) This invention relates to marking and counting devices and, more particularly, to a device for marking an item with paint and counting the items so marked.

In a steel mill, billets, blooms, slabs, and the like are often marked with distinctive color codes on their ends. conventionally, this is done using pressurized paint spnay cans. During the marking a mental or manual tally of the number of items so marked is kept. Errors in memory, or distractions, often make this tally inaccurate, though the markings of the billets are accurate.

It is therefore a principal object of this invention to provide a device which will mark items and count the items that have been marked.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan View of a pressurized paint spray can and attached counting device;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional View taken substantially along the plane designated by line Il-II of FIGURE 1.

Referring now to the drawing, a pressurized paint container is designated generally by the reference character 10. The container includes an axially movable stem 11. When the stem 11 is depressed paint is sprayed from a nozzle 12.

A counter is provided and designated generally at 20. The counter is secured to the container 10 by an annular collar 21 held in place by a nut and bolt 22. A flange 23 extends upwardly from the collar 21 and is adapted to mount the counter 20. The counter 20 is mounted to the flange 23 by a nut and bolt 24.

The counter 20 includes four counter wheels 25 with suitable indicia markings thereon. The Wheels 25 are actuated by a button 26 which moves a lever 27 and pawls 28 in a conventional manner such that each time the button 26 is pushed the wheels 25 will register. An operator bar 30 is pivotally carried by the bolt 24 and extends between the lever 27 and the stem 11. In its normal position the openator bar 30 rests on the top of the stem 11 and is positioned to coact with the lever 27.

3,119,557 Patented Jan. 28, 1964 When the button 26 is pressed, the lever 27 moves downwardly which urges the operator bar 30 downwardly depressing the stem 11 thereby allowing paint to spray irom the nozzle 12. At the same time the lever 27 actuates the counter wheels through pawls 28 which move the wheels to indicate that the button has been pressed. When the button is released, the stem 11 pushes up to its closed position in a conventional manner.

With this arrangement, the number of times the button 26 is pressed, and hence the number of times the paint is sprayed is registered. Thus, no separate tally of the items marked need be kept.

The counter 20 is provided with a reset lever 31 operably connected to the counter wheels 25 and adapted to rest the wheels to zero. Therefore, any time a series of markings is completed the counter wheels can be reset to zero and readied for the next series of markings.

While one embodiment of my invention has been shown and described it will be apparent that other adaptations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the following claim.

I claim:

A marking and counting device comprising in combination, a pressurized cylindrical container, said container having an axially movable stem extending centrally therefrom and adapted to release the contents of the container when depressed, a counter detachably mounted on said container above said stem and removable independently of said stem, said counter including an actuating lever with -a button :afiixed to one end thereof, and an operator bar pivotally mounted on said counter between said lever and the stem, said operator bar normally contacting the top of said stem and adapted to move said stem axially when said button is pressed to thereby effect a concomitant operation of the stem and counter.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 796,627 Bradt Aug. 8, 1905 988,037 Sharpe etal Mar. 28, 1911 992,245 Powers May 16, 1911 1,171,608 Greene Feb. 15, 1916 1,454,614 Aithans et a1 May 8, 1923 1,472,900 Bowdle Nov. 6, 1923 1,486,135 Hagel Mar. 11, 1924 1,512,434 Veeder Oct. 21, 1924 2,634,055 Thompson Apr. 7, 1953 2,808,178 Gnado et al. Oct. 1, 1957 

